Chapter 81

He looked everywhere, but he could not see Leasis. The area surrounding him was only filled with foggy smoke, and burning wood and dust were falling from the ceiling and then eaten by the fire.

Covering his mouth with his sleeve, Hizen continued to move through the flames. Smoke entered his lungs, and the red fire swallowed his whole body, but he did not feel any pain. His mind was only filled with the thought of saving Leasis.

The more he was hurt by the flames, the more his forehead and his back were sweating. The unstoppable flames and the sound of his anxious heart took away his cold judgment

“Lea! Lea! Leasis!”

At the top of his voice, Hizen called out Leasis’ name and struggled through the warehouse. But Leasis was nowhere to be seen.

Stopping to avoid the fire, Hizen recalled Owen’s words. She had said she had the keys.

Then the basement. Hizen hurriedly turned back and headed to the basement stairs.

The stairs, already engulfed in the fire, seemed to be the way to hell, but he jumped in without hesitation.

He barely arrived after many twists and turns, but the iron door leading to the underground of the warehouse was tightly closed. However, Hizen’s eyes in front of the door became colder. Magic scrolls’ patterns were engraved on the iron door.

But he could not wait any longer and swung his two swords at the door.

The white swords, stronger than ever, cut the door in an instant. Hizen jumped inside and began looking for Leasis.

“Leasis!”

Then, a big piece of wood fell from the ceiling above him. Hizen could not avoid it, and the wood struck his head. Blood started dripping from his forehead!

He gasped, blinking his heavy eyelashes covered with blood. He was already running out of oxygen, so his lungs hurt. This place, where only smoke and flames spread, felt like a dream and not reality.

He was sure he had seen this before. He felt a strange sense of déjà vu while his view was shaking.

As he closed his mouth with his sleeve and looked down, he saw two bodies curled up on the floor. The black tattered bodies and their disgusting smell trampled on his hopes.

Hizen stretched out his trembling hand and touched the two bodies. They were the two people who had taught him the meaning of the word ‘happiness’, and who had been oppressed by his father’s greed.

I should have said thank you.

I should have said I love you.

Hot tears flowed down his cheeks. Hizen, who had lost his self-control, held the bodies and sobbed. Even if it was just an illusion of the past, he could not control his heart.

“Don’t cry…”

As he turned his head around, he saw Leasis, who was struggling with her body. She gasped and smiled with a pale face.

There was a blue shield surrounding her. The sapphire pendant around her neck was cracked as if it would break at anythime.

“Our Count-nim is more handsome when he smiles.”

“Lea…”

Hizen ran to Leasis and held her in his arms. The sound of an anxious trembling heart entered her ears.

Leasis stretched out her arms and patted his broad shoulders.

“Don’t cry. I’m fine.”

Thud. The ceiling began to collapse completely. Hizen quickly took off his jacket and wrapped it tightly over her head. Then he pulled out a sword and approached the wall.

There was no time now. Hizen looked at the burning wall and prepared himself.

It was clear that the building would collapse as soon as he cut down the wall. However, Leasis should be able to survivre thanks to the Guardian Sapphire.

Hizen gave strength to his hand holding the sword. Even if he died, he had no regrets. If he could save Leasis, he would not care about anything else.

“Hizen-nim…?”

Feeling anxious, Leasis called Hizen. But he did not look back. Her words hurt her throat, but she still struggled.

Hizen’s sword emitted a bright white light. Leasis looked at it and shook her head.

“What are you doing… Ah! No… no!”

“Thank you… for all this time.”

“Stop!”

The moment Leasis shouted, Hizen swung his sword.

“What the hell is that…”

Oh my god. The people next to the warehouse, including Max, could not say anything and had their mouths wide open.

The red dragon that suddenly appeared swallowed the entire warehouse on fire. Even the servants, who were making a fuss while throwing water on the building, also lost their words with baskets of water in their hands.

Iddahak snorted with a ‘Huh.’ and put his head on the floor.

Then the warehouse in his mouth settled on the ground. The only change was Iddahak’s saliva all over the ground and the building.

As soon as Owen and the others came to their senses, they ran straight to the building. They all cried, calling out the names of Leasis and Hizen.

Fortunately, the two were rescued safely. As soon as Max was about to follow, someone grabbed his arm.

“Breadman. I did a good job, right?”

It was an innocent voice that did not fit the situation. The clear voice coming from a black cape seemed to be asking for praise.

This lunatic stays the same even in this situation. Embarrassed, Max nodded roughly, and Blix folded his arms.

“What’s going on? I don’t know who dares target our Leasis, even though the Count is here. Do you know anything? Some suspect guys? What. Like dangerous ones hovering around Leasis.”

That would be you and your brother. Max looked at Blix in disbelief. Elnos and Blix were the most dangerous and suspicious brothers in the Imperial Palace.

Blix was sometimes shameless. He stood on his tiptoes and wrapped his arm around Max’s shoulders.

“Let me know when you find out who it was.”

What?

“I’ll kill the rat without anyone knowing. No, killing isn’t enough. I’ll torture them properly and then kill them.”

Anyway, what this man said was not a joke. And it was a problem because it was not a joke.

Max struggled to manage his facial expressions and pushed back his arm.

“I think you’d better get going. There are a lot of eyes here.”

“I’d like to see Leasis, too?”

“Please go.”

Blix whined a little more, but fortunately disappeared quickly. He seemed to be unable to ignore people’s eyes.

Max ran among the people while looking at the place where Blix disappeared.

Covered with dragon saliva, Hizen’s condition was a mess. His whole body was full of scorched burn marks, and his jacket was burned and stained with blood coming from his injuries.

Despite this situation, Hizen was tightly hugging Leasis to protect her. Thanks to that, she was not hurt at all in Hizen’s arms.

Max’s heart sank. Despite the urgent situation, the two were smiling while hugging each other.

Hizen protecting Leasis, and her trapped in his arms. They looked happy even though it might be the last time.

A group of priests came running from far away. They poured holy water on the two and tried to heal them.

First aid required individual treatment. However, the two could not be separated as if they had applied magic glue.

“What should we do?”

“For real. I don’t know what’s going on…”

The priests were embarrassed. Max smiled bitterly and asked them to treat the two like this. It would be the best medicine for them.

In the meantime, Idahak morphed into a human boy. When the naked boy appeared, the surrounding area became noisy.

Max approached him in a hurry.

“Iddahak-nim.”

Iddahak looked up at Max with his golden eyes. At least a person he liked a little talked to him.

“What?”

“Take it.”

Max took off his jacket, handed it to Iddahak and thanked him for taking care of his clothes. Iddahak received it without any complaints.

However, Iddahak’s expression was unusual. He dropped to the ground and swore while looking at Leasis being healed by the priests.

“How dare you threaten my master.’

Iddahak covered his nose while looking around sharply. I can’t stand the smell of trash. As expected, human beings smell bad. That was the same for the letter that came through the window earlier.

His mysterious golden eyes became thinner. This was not a regular fire. At first, he just thought of it lightly, so he tried to put out the fire by blowing the wind, but it was not enough because of the strong magic energy.

Someone was deliberately interfering with the fire suppression. In the end, he had no choice but to return to his dragon form and swallow the fire.

“I told you there would be nothing good about you two staying together.’

Iddahak’s golden eyes darkened. Max misunderstood it and hurriedly bowed his head.

“Thank you for your hard work. Go and rest now. I’ll finish the rest of the work.”

Iddahak nodded slowly. Still, the man named Max was on the good side. His smell was rather fragrant, and he had good manners.

But he was a little hungry because he had used his strength. Iddahak slightly grabbed Max’s long pants.

“Hey, human.”

“Yes?”

“Hmm. Magic worms… Are there any left?”

“Of course.”

Max replied gladly. He seemed to have one more thing to take care of, but if it was Iddahak, then it was a welcome one. At least he was less dangerous than Blix.

*

*

*

The sudden fire incident made the Imperial Palace noisy. In particular, the cause of the fire and the difficulty of extinguishing it were the biggest topics.

It was argued that the fire, which did not go out no matter how much water was poured on it, must have been the doing of a wizard. That it was a high-level wizard of an enemy country who had a grudge against Hizen.

The people who heard the rumor reacted differently. Schwalnon and Karma turned completely red and heated up, saying they would catch the wizard on the honor of the 1st Division of Imperial Knights, and Max quietly left, saying more investigations were needed.

Then, Blix stormed into his brother’s room at dawn.

Clank!

Elnos opened his eyes to the metallic noise ringing his ears. Then in the dark, he saw Blix smiling insidiously, blocking his sword.

“How do I find him and kill him?”

“…Explain what you’re saying.”

“You know, when the Count’s warehouse was on fire. It’s obvious that someone caused it.”

Elnos took back his sword that had almost cut off Blix’s neck. Then, Blix also lowered his sword.

Blix grumbled, plunging into the fluffy bed.

“It’s clear that he’s as good as dead. If someone touches Leasis, I can’t stay still.”

“Don’t make a fuss. She’s not dead yet.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if she died! She hasn’t even woken up yet.”,

What a surprise. Elnos glanced at Blix. It was not something that a person who saw her skills with a sword at the gladiator tournament would say.

However, Blix was still trapped in his own world. Regardless of how Leasis could wield a sword, he defended her, saying she was a meticulous woman.

Elnos mumbled, pretending to listen to him.

“Don’t worry. Leasis is not an ordinary woman.”